There are a number of polygonal building structure systems known in the art with particular reference being made to those found in the Patent Office classification Class 52, Sub-class 82. A number of these polygonal buildings are formed of prefabricated elements, usually wood or metal, with various forms of interfitting edges and joints for the prefabricated elements, see for example Vachon U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,355 and Preissler U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,200. Precast modular elements, for assembling concrete building structures and the like, are usually rectangular elements which seek to utilize the economic advantages of factory-made buildings and to minimize the time and mechanical operations and expense required for erection and other on-site work. See, for example, Lafferty U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,037. These structures may also utilize prestressing of precast sections, typically floor and roof panels, such as is disclosed in Dobell U.S. Pat. No. 2,776,471 and Ali-Oglu U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,979. These prior precast systems generally result in buildings which are boxy in appearance and otherwise generally unattractive.
The object of the present invention is to provide improvements in precast polygonal buildings and methods of constructing same. The present precast polygonal building structure reduces construction time to approximately twelve hours on-site erection time for a dwelling-type structure and thereby minimizes the costly on-site job labor. Moreover, it reduces delays in planning and scheduling and extends the construction seasons to all year round. By being constructed of concrete and/or other low cost castable cementious type building materials, the material has high durability, is fire resistant and essentially maintenance free. A wide variety of finish materials may be incorporated into the design and the control of the quality as well as performance for the building structure is assured. The internal layout of the building is open since the roof and floor panel elements are integrally beamed panel members. A built-in insulation may be incorporated in the wall panels for lowering energy consumption and the geometry of the roof structure is highly conductive to solar energy applications.
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following specification when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: